Hey Guys!!!! 

The tenth chapter. 

I don't own Mahabharat. 

Happy Reading!! 

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Third POV

Smiling he pulls his bow and fires the first arrow. Hitting the target, he had wanted.
The arrow had hit the name Duryodhana.

"The first one to enter the arena is GANDHARI NANDAN DURYODHANA" Ashwatthama declared.

And soon, the sound of few elephants entering was heard. And in came Duryodhana sitting on the back of an elephant. It was a magnificent one, doing few flips, Duryodhana landed on the ground, with his double ended mace in his hand. He greeted his parents and talked about himself and his skills. 

Raj Mata wrinkled her nose, this boy was to much egoistic. He thought he was the best. Idiot. 

"Against him PANDU PUTRA NAKUL" Again it was declared by Ashwatthama.

They all saw a large eagle, coming towards them and thump a person was dropped, who gracefully pared his dropping, by twisting his body and landing with his two swords in front of him. 

An animal lover it seems, Raj Mata mulled. He was handsome.
Many girls will die on her. Raj Mata sighed. His marriage will be a big deal.  

And thus, the fight began. Nakul and Duryodhana, one an excellent sword fighter and the other as capable, mace user.
One had to win, and this time it was Duryodhana, he defeated Nakul, who was a little leafy in front of Duryodhana.

"Next person to compete with Raj Kumar Duryodhana is PANDU PUTRA SEHDEV." Ashwatthama's voice brought everyone's eyes to the guy standing in the mid- arena, an axe in his hands. 

Raj Mata looked closely at the new prince, He seems like an intelligent one. 
Maybe not all of them will be closed boxes. Good. 

Again, the fight began, and like before Duryodhana again won.

"PANDU PUTRA YUDHISHTHIRA." 

A guy jumped in to the arena by a nearby area, a spear in his hand. Very artistically he wielded the weapon in his hand. And the fight began.

On seeing Yudhishthira, Raj Mata could easily see a King in the young man. One look proved it. 
But Raj Mata also knew that maybe his righteousness would lead him to loose his power. And the major reason behind his mistakes. 

This time Yudhishthira would have won but Duryodhana started to manipulate him. He started to bad mouth Rani Kunti and Late Maharaj Pandu.

Anger filled Yudhishthira and he lost his calm. Resulting in Duryodhana easily winning. 

Raj Mata was scandalized to see the way Duryodhana talked, she made a mental note to beat some sense in him. This was not the way, a prince acted, especially towards another prince. 

"Now PANDU PUTRA ARJUN." Guru Drona declared this time.

Ashwatthama fired an arrow at the elephant head on top entrance, which fell on Arjun. The whole arena's breath stopped.
A tear started to fall from Rani Kunti's eyes but before it could fall of her face, an arrow took it on its tip and Arjun caught it.

Everybody was relieved to see that Arjun was alive and not hurt.

"He made a canopy of arrows to save himself, Putra." Guru Drona says, on seeing the confused look on his sons and Duryodhana.

Raj Mata Satyavati was impressed with him; he has talent, let's see how he uses it. 
But all this also meant that she missed her Aditya.

"Let the fight began." Guru Drona declared.

Both started with their things when the competition paused with Duryodhana being feezed to the ground, by ice. 
Guru Drona, Maha Mantri and Rani Kunti lit with happiness. The brothers already knew that Arjun would easily defeat Duryodhana while the others share expression of anger and annoyance. 

Raj Mata Satyavati on the other hand was just partially happy, to see all these young men reminded her to much of her grandson- Aditya. 
How did he look now? What did he excel at? Where was he know? When would he return? Why is he taking so time at his Gurukul? Because she knows her grand- son was much more capable then these prince's. Also, did he still like eating Kheer? 

"There is no one else in this world as capable archer as Pandu Putra Arjun."

The people start to chant for Arjun's bravery.
"PANDU PUTRA ARJUN KI JAI!"

Suddenly, an arrow wheezed past Arjun and melted the ice, around Duryodhana, freeing the prince from the ice he was prior trapped in.

All the heads snap to the direction the arrow came from. 

There was one man standing there, a young man in his mid- twenties. Eyes shining like two stars in his gorgeous shaped eyes. His height was decent and hair flowing, a little longer than normal. He was dressed in normal clothes, nothing fancy about them. Just that his Angvastram was wrapped such that his back and front body was completely covered. Even though his arms were also covered by the cloth, they were built, showing that he practiced, wielding weapons. The jewellery he was wearing was also normal, not gold or anything, nothing so fancy about them.

Raj Mata Satyavati had a weird expression her face, but no one was actually paying any attention to her and her expression.

"Who are you?" Guru Drona asks. "With whose permission did you dare to shoot arrow like this?"

"When one makes a sound between two mountains, Acharya. Then sound is bound to echo. A mountain doesn't wait for anyone's permission."

He raised his bow again and fired an arrow, one that broke in two pieces, one that made Duryodhana's mace to fall back in his hand while the other burst into flower petals and showered over Raj Mata Satyavati, Maha Mahim and Kul Guru Kripacharya. 

Making Maha Mahim smile, un- knowingly. While Maha Mahim saw the lotus petals rain over him, he frowned a little. There was only a person who loved lotus like this. 
Was it really him? 

Raj Mata caught a few petals in her hands, smiling widely at them. She had curled her hand in fists, her nails burying in her palms, to stop herself from jumping up from her seat and going to hug the boy. After all she had recognized him. How could she not? It was her Aditya.

"You didn't say, who are you?"

"Me?" The man raises an eyebrow, his left side of lips rising in amusement. "Archer, Acharya. And here, I thought you must have guessed it, seeing my bow and arrow. Not to sound egoistic but my skill too."

"How can you challenge Arjun? This is a competition for the Kuru princes."

Raj Mata Satyavati wanted so badly to slap the Guru on his face and make him apologize for talking like that to her grand- son. How can that Guru ill- treat her grand- son? Her grand- son? 

"But you just declared, him the best archer in the world, he may be the best among the 105 princes but not in the world." The young man's eye rises more, the amusement slipping away.

"The one to challenge Arjun has to be a prince or a king or a Maha Mantri." Guru Kripacharya says. "Who are you, you didn't introduce yourself? Before challenging you must introduce yourself." 

"If I wear normal clothes, does it mean I am not a Kshatriya, not a prince?" the man questions.

The elders were surprised at his way of talking and tone. Especially Maharaj Dhritarashtra, Maharani Gandhari, Rani Kunti and of course, Guru Dronacharya. 
They were assuming him to be not a prince, else he would have better way of talking and manners. So, what was this irritating person doing here? 

Raj Mata Satyavati on the other hand was feeling proud deep in her heart. This was her Aditya. Her Grandson. Her baby boy. Her monster.  

And now he was back. Back to live with her. 

********** 

He is here..... 

Raj Mata judged all of  the Kuru Prince's. 

But she still likes Aditya the best, I mean it was not even a competition. 
Everybody knew it. 

Raj Mata's reaction to all this, is making this interesting.
What do you think?

(1530 words.) 

--Sxxxxx